Askari Metals Raises Funds for African Exploration with Sale of Australian Gold Assets to Forrestania

Askari Metals (ASX: AS2) has added $700,000 to its African exploration funds with the sale of Australian subsidiary First Western Gold to Forrestania Resources (ASX: FRS).

The company will receive $250,000 in cash, along with tradable shares currently valued at $450,000, from Forrestania in exchange for seven exploration licenses and one exploration license application in Western Australia.

Askari will utilise the funds to progress its Uis lithium and rare earths project in Namibia and the Nejo gold-copper project in Ethiopia.

Maiden Nejo Drilling Planned

Executive director Gino D’Anna said the new funds would allow Askari to complete an agreement to acquire the Nejo project and support initial exploration there, with maiden drilling planned for November 2025.

“The sale of our Australian exploration portfolio is a continuation of our strategy to define Askari as a focused African explorer and developer,” he said.

“The timing of the disposal has also aligned perfectly with the current record high gold price as we continue our African gold focus.”

“This transaction means that Askari is able to avoid having to complete a dilutive capital raising, instead now focused on moving ahead aggressively with its African assets.”

Regional Exploration Program

Askari has finalised regional exploration program at the Guji-Gudeya and Guliso gold trends at Nejo ahead of the maiden drilling campaign.

Nejo covers 1,174 square kilometres, with exposure to the mineral-rich Arabian-Nubian Shield region, and Askari is initially targeting high-grade shallow gold mineralisation in the zones where previous surface trenching and drilling intersected high-grade gold.

The company is also undertaking an airborne geophysical campaign as part of an expanded exploration strategy that will include infill and extension trenching across the gold targets on the southern licence, along with field exploration campaigns at the Katta copper targets.

At Uis, drilling and trenching intersected rare metal pegmatites, as well as high-grade tin, tantalum, rubidium, and lithium.

Burracoppin Gold Project

For Forrestania, the main attraction in the First Western Gold portfolio is the Burracoppin gold project and its mineral resource estimate of 2.14 million tonnes at 1.2 grams per tonne for 82,700 ounces of gold.

“This acquisition continues our strategy of consolidating high-quality gold assets in the Southern Cross region,” Forrestania chair David Geraghty said.

“With further exploration success, the project has the potential to both expand its resources base and advance through the approvals process toward a future mining lease.”